Lanie writes:
My husband and I are expecting our first child (a girl) in December. We have already settled on the name Everleigh. In fact, there were really no other first names we were considering for a girl. We are trying to find the most perfect middle name, but are having a hard time finding a middle name to go with Everleigh. Our last name is O‘Donner, but with a C.My husbands top choices in this order are:PaigeAspenLilWe also considered a family name Lillienne for a middle name before we came up with Everleigh (but vetoed it because it seems to heavy on the “L’s”). I’m not sure I want to start the family names with our first and feel we need to keep that tradition up for subsequent children. I like the idea of our child having his/her own identity. Although my husband did okay “Lil” to be on the middle name list for my grandmother who goes by Lil nearly exclusively. Again, heavy on the “L’s”, but it’s a short one syllable name with meaning for us.I like Everleigh Paige, but feel that we just picked Paige arbitrarily because it sounded nice. I feel like there could be a better middle name out there. Our styles are decorative names that feel a little old fashioned, that are different, not in the top 1000 (but for the middle name is okay) and bring in some nature words. For instance, we plan on Ever for a nn. Because Everleigh seems so illustrious when written out, I feel she needs a shorter middle name with less syllables, and more meaning. I’ve done some google searches and found out that other people that named their daughters Everleigh named the middle names “Skye”, “True”, and “Rae”. I feel like we need a similarly short name, that is pretty and meaningful or strong.Aspen is on the list because we both love nature and it was one of the only ones we could agree on. I just am worried it might be too “granola” of a name, which points us back to Paige.My husband vetoed:ClaireLux (to heavy on the “L’s” again), but I liked the idea of a short one syllable name meaning “light”And I vetoed:Quinn (although I have to admit it sounds nice, I’m just not a fan of the name)Siobhan (too much Irish for me with our last name)To give you an idea, our boys names list was:Lachlan BlazeChase RiverBrahm HaydenI liked all of these names so much, I was relieved when finding out we were having a girl so I didn’t have to choose between them.Can you give me some ideas and opinions about middle names that are one syllable (or two) that might flow well with Everleigh? Your website is the best resource I have found for baby naming ideas, and I would love to get this settled in my mind. My husband is perfectly fine with Everleigh Paige, but he is open to hearing something that might be better. That will probably be her name if we don’t figure something else out, but something bothers me that I am not feeling like “Yes! That will be her name!!”Thanks for all your help!
The middle name position is an especially nice place for any name you liked very much but without wanting to use it as a first name. If, for example, you really liked the name Rose but not with your surname, it would make a great middle name. Or if you initially loved the simplicity of names like Anne or Jane or June or Mae but then realized they weren’t your naming style, they too would make great middle names.
I found when I was thinking it over that I’m with you on the L sounds: Claire is one of my favorite names and it’s great with the rhythm of Everleigh—but I don’t like it as much as I like Everleigh Anne or Everleigh Rose.
The middle name is also a nice place for a meaningful sentiment name, especially with the nickname Ever making a little motto out of it:
Amore
Constance
Faith
Grace
Hope
Joy
Justice
Love
Mercy
Patience
Peace
Promise
Prudence
Sage
For something more naturey:
Acacia
Bay
Brook
Daisy
Fern
Fleur
Garland
Iris
Jade
Juniper
Lake
Lark
Linden
Pearl
Rain
Rose
Rowan
Sage
Spring
Violet
Willow
Wren
Sage seems like one of the best from the lists: it’s very similar to your frontrunner Paige, but it has both attribute and nature associations. And Ever Sage (“always wise”) is a great motto.
Jade also has some of the same sound as Paige, but with a nature association.
I think my own picks would be Everleigh Joy, Everleigh Garland, and Everleigh Spring.
For a December baby, what about a holiday middle name. Joy? Noelle? I know there is a post on this blog pointing to lots of great holiday names.
One of the concepts that the name Everleigh evokes for me is that of “ever after”, so I love the idea of choosing a middle name that extends the concept…..So, Everleigh Spring would be spring ever after, or Everleigh Pearl would be awesome pearls telescoping into infinity, Everleigh Sage would be wisdom that just kept on coming. If this idea resonates at all with you, it could help guide your decision. There are so many great choices!
As soon as I read Everleigh, I thought of Rose as the middle name, so I’m with Swistle on that one.
Of the naturey names, I like Fern. Everleigh Fern O’Donnell. One interesting thing about Ferns is how adaptable they are, it’s a plant that can do well in almost any situation.
I like the flow of Everleigh Anna O’Donner with C.
I love the suggestion of Sage.
Some other ideas:
Reed
Bay
Day
Tate
Cate
Breeze
Good luck!
Our daughter’s middle name is Aspen and we lve it. We have had very positive responses to her name.
Love it!
Everleigh Brook and Everleigh Pearl are my favorites from Swistle’s suggestions. I also thought of Everleigh Lane, Everleigh Calla (which could also be a nod to Lil thru Lilly), & Everleigh Luna.
I would pick something with one syllable (it has a great rhythm) and something common, but not too common. A name like Everleigh Anne seems disjointed to me. I know a lot of people like to “counter” a more unusual first name with a classic middle name, but I don’t think they go together that well. Similarly, I wouldn’t pick something too out there for a middle name either. Just my opinion though.
A name like Everleigh Paige strikes a good balance though- Paige is pretty common, more modern than a name like Anne, but not overused.
Looking at your boy name list, would you consider Everleigh Blaze or Everleigh Chase? Everleigh is feminine enough to offer balance.
My personal philosophy on middle names is to use them as a potential back up name that the child can use if for some reason the child doesn’t want to use their first name. With this in mind, I think it can be good idea to make the middle name contrast somewhat with the first name, so if the first name is very uncommon, make the middle name more traditional or vice versa. If you decide to do something like this, some more traditional/less uncommon names that still meet your criteria (many of which are in swistle’s lists) are Grace, Faith, Rose, Daisy, Constance, Violet, Lily, Camellia, Autumn, Stella, Rosemary, and Jasmine. I also think a name like Alice, Louise, Victoria, Elise, Cordelia, Helena, Josephine, Georgia, Hazel, Juliet and Susannah would also make a nice, somewhat contrasting middle name.
I immediately knew which name to suggest for you:
Everleigh Dove O'(C)onnor
Done and done.
You may also like
Everleigh Blythe O'(C)onnor
Everleigh Bliss O'(C)onnor
Everleigh Gloria O'(C)onnor
Everleigh Vale O'(C)onnor
Everleigh Flora O'(C)onnor
xo VIv
I wouldn’t use Everleigh because of the brothel association, but I do like the way it sounds, and Ever is a cute nickname. I guess I’m too uptight. Anyway, as far as middle names go, here are some that I like:
Everleigh Belle
Everleigh Elm
Everleigh Ember
Everleigh Gail
Everleigh Paige
Everleigh Rain
Everleigh Sage
Hmm, I just googled Everleigh and the top result is the brothel, though I had personally never heard of it. Maybe just change the spelling to Everly or Everley if it bothers you?
I like Everleigh Paige and Everleigh Joy out of the suggestions so far. Both are sweet and spunky.
I would also like to suggest Everleigh Wynne.
Best wishes to you and your growing family!
I don’t mind the Ls in Everleight Liliene and I’d use the full version rather than Lil. But I like Paige, too, and Sage is a great suggestion.
I like someone else’s suggestion of Vale! Everleigh Vale! Also like Everleigh Sage, Everleigh Kate and Everleigh Beth.
Wow, had to laugh on this one. My kids’ middle names are Claire, Page, and Quinn. And my first name was suggested by Swistle. So it seems like we might have something in common. I think Everleigh is lovely, and I love so many of the middle name choices I can’t possibly suggest just one of them. Happy naming!
I’m surprised no one likes Lark as much as I do! Everleigh Lark is my favorite suggestion, and going with the bird theme I like Everleigh Wren as well :)
Hi Swistle,
It’s Lanie the letter writer. I loved so many of these suggestions! I just knew that writing in would ease my mind and help with this decision. I loved the idea of making the name a motto, and you can’t get better than “Ever Sage”. My husband and I love these suggestions:
Everleigh Wynne
Everleigh Sage
Everleigh Brooke
Everleigh Paige
We’re going to keep all these as contenders and see what she looks like to us on her Birthday.
I cannot thank you enough! Thanks for all suggestions! Vivian, you are so right, Dove is the perfect middle name, but I don’t think it flows as well as the rest, so I will use it for a sibling. :)
Thanks Any for suggesting Wynne, that name is special to us for other reasons, so it’s a gem!
And yes, I know Everleigh club was a Chicago brothel, and nope it doesn’t bother me one bit. :)
I am a December baby also, and wanted NO reminders growing up that my birthday was part of the holiday season, so Joy, Noelle, and Holly are out as beautiful as they are. :)
Will of course keep you posted with pictures come December! :)
I like on syllable for your name choices. I prefer Rose and Vale.
*Amy*
Have you thought about Ever Leigh?
How about Everleigh Truce.
We named our beautiful baby girl Everleigh Adele in May. We thought it was a classic timeless name choice! I like Paige
Our daughter is Everleigh Jean